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Tony Bertuca

Tony Bertuca is chief editor of Inside the Pentagon, the flagship publication of InsideDefense, where he focuses on defense budget and acquisition policy. He previously worked for the Sun-Times News Group in his hometown of Chicago, IL, and at the New Hampshire Union Leader in Manchester, NH. Tony has also served as managing editor of Inside the Army. He has a master's degree in journalism from Boston University.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) banded together today over concerns about potential conflicts of interest for John Rood, a Lockheed Martin executive nominated to be under secretary of defense for policy.

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-TX) and Ranking Member Adam Smith (D-WA) differ on many defense policy issues, but have reached bipartisan agreement that the congressional budget process is "broken" and that the Pentagon's acquisition system is too resistant to reform.

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said today Congress intends to pass a final fiscal year 2018 appropriations package before the end of the calendar year, but acknowledged doing so might necessitate a short extension of the stopgap continuing resolution under which the federal government has operated since Oct. 1.

The fiscal year 2018 defense authorization bill negotiated by House and Senate lawmakers would establish a new Pentagon advisory committee focused on technology and composed, in part, of senior executives from U.S. companies.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) says he remains troubled by the lack of communication coming from the Trump administration and is threatening to block Pentagon nominees until he is briefed by the Army on a newly relaxed recruiting policy that would allow individuals with mental health issues to serve.

Senior Pentagon officials are scheduled to appear at several events and conferences in the Washington area this week, while nominees for top Defense Department posts are slated to appear on Capitol Hill.

The Pentagon is requesting an additional $307 million in fiscal year 2018 for several classified Strategic Capabilities Office programs under an emergency appropriation focused on "missile defeat and defense enhancement," according to budget documents.

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK), a senior GOP member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Thursday he disagrees with the approach Chairman John McCain (R-AZ) has taken with the Trump administration's nomination of defense contracting executives to some of the Pentagon's top posts.

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis appointed several new Pentagon senior executive service officials Wednesday, including a new director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, according to a Defense Department announcement.

House and Senate negotiators have crafted a final fiscal year 2018 defense authorization bill that blows past statutory budget caps by nearly $80 billion and continues the Capitol Hill trend of reforming Pentagon acquisition and bureaucracy.

The White House has sent Congress a budgetary amendment seeking an additional $6 billion in defense spending for fiscal year 2018, with $4 billion requested for missile defense to counter threats from North Korea, $700 million going to repair damage to Navy ships and $1.2 billion to finance the U.S. buildup in Afghanistan.

This week, senior defense officials are slated to appear at Washington-area conferences, and Trump administration nominees for key Pentagon positions are scheduled for hearings on Capitol Hill. Several defense contractors have also scheduled earnings calls. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis is traveling to Europe.

Inside Defense, from the award-winning Inside the Pentagon family of newsletters, is the nation's best online news service for defense and aerospace professionals. We specialize in exclusive, hard-hitting news on Defense Department programs, procurement and policymaking.